To independent voters, this ad could play very well. Many people in the state, especially in areas outside of Madison, have very negative connotations of last year’s rallies. Unless you were there and participated in the peaceful demonstrations, this ad confirms what you probably already believe.

As Jim Cavanaugh, former president of the South Central Federation of Labor of Wisconsin, wrote in one of the best recaps of the recall, “Ordinary Wisconsinites outside of Madison have a very negative view of this city of large government office buildings, a fairly high standard of living, and liberal politics. Walker simply exploited an existing bias.”

If the frame worked once, it can work again. So the NRSC is playing the fear of freaky Madison card again.

Is it unfair to stoke the fear of freaky Madison? It correlates pretty well to a fear of too much liberalism (or leftism).

The use of the word "fear" is wrong, although it perfectly reflects the view of liberal Madisonians that people outside of Madison are uneducated and act on emotions instead of well founded, thoughtful opinions. I think the correct word is "dislike" and think that the liberals will have a hard time figuring out how to appeal to the independents outside of Madison if they don't understand that difference.

Tammy is the anointed lesbian princess of Madison. She is considered a joke in DC as is Kohl. I think progressives just want to have an openly gay senator in that slot instead of a closet billionaire one they currently have. They will be saddened in November.

And if Thompson wins in November, the political transformation of Wisconsin will be complete. Within two years, the state may go from having two Democratic Senators, a Democratic governor, and both statehouses controlled by Dems to having two Republican Senators, a Republican governor, and quite possibly both statehouses controlled by Republicans. And

I like Baldwin, I think she's got the right ideas. But she really managed to look shrill, juvenile, unserious and out of touch. In retrospect these rallies were a horrible idea. They probably saved Walkers job.

Baldwin should take a good hard look at Liz Warrens style: Serious, competent and focused on working americans, not only academics and minorities.

The ad aside, I do understand what it is like to be involved in a protest and have it reported in the media as something completely foreign to what went on on the ground. I am not saying this happened in Madison, I have no way of knowing, but it did happen to those of us protesting for Bush in Palm Beach County in 2000.

To hear the news, you would think that we and our neighbors, who lived in that very county, were bused in from Texas, or maybe Hell itself, paid by Richard Mellon Scaife (That would be the Emanuel Goldstein figure from that era that has now been replaced with the Kock Bros among the left wing faithful) and utterly disbelieving in what we did and with only mercenary intentions.

Well, Madison has a vicious anti-Christian bigot as mayor (he scrubbed his web site when he ran for mayor...you should have seen it 8 years ago).

The city council held a vote to boycott the Jewish state.

The hate group KKK, no, wait, the Freedom From Religion group is Madison based. UW-Madison lost a lawsuit because they discriminate against Catholics. But to be fair, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Superior also lost anti-Christian discrimination lawsuits.

Except for the last part about the outcome of the recall election, this ad would have worked just fine as a pro-Baldwin ad directed at a "progressive" electorate. The left does believe what she and the protesters were saying/chanting. They become ashamed of it only when it's presented to a mainstream electorate.

Baldwin should take a good hard look at Liz Warrens style: Serious, competent and focused on working americans, not only academics and minorities.

You should read critiques of her academic writing before recommending that others imitate her style. Her academic writing is misleading at best, fraudulent at worst. In particular, her article on how lack of health insurance causes so many bankruptcies is political hackery.

Probably not a good idea if Rep. Baldwin wants to increase her stature outside of Madison.

"Tabloid stuff nobody really cares about. A decade old story that isnt necessarily connected to Warrens demeanor in the campaign."

The fact that her signature academic effort is a fraud also doesn't seem to matter to anyone on the left. It's amazing how they seem to believe the willingness to say anything to support the narrative, no matter how easily refuted, is a qualification. It's almost like the left believes lying is a required skill for a leftist.

Just after the recall went down, Matt Rothschild was telling us all the movement should have been MORE confrontational - not just by shutting down the Capitol but with truckers driving side by side at 45 mph on the freeway. Now, he and the Progressive pretend to be outraged about an ad touting the Capitol protests as too confrontational. And tarring poor Tammy with that "fearful" imagery. Heavens, I suppose Matt meant that the truckers should endanger everyone else's lives on the freeway, but Tammy could stay home and ride her bike to work? What a laugh.

It never occurs to the Dems to run somebody who isn't a Madison leftist. In the old days they did much better with people like Bill Proxmire who mocked wasteful spending.

7/3/12 9:19 AM

I wonder if Proxmire was still alive and in the senate would he have vote for liarcare or called it a golden fleece?

Edutcher my step-grandfather was a navigator who flew the Regensburg missions. Half the crew was killed. It isn't funny to use that as an example even if to ridicule the ever so deserving of ridicule Garage.

"The Godfather said...Except for the last part about the outcome of the recall election, this ad would have worked just fine as a pro-Baldwin ad directed at a "progressive" electorate. The left does believe what she and the protesters were saying/chanting. They become ashamed of it only when it's presented to a mainstream electorate."

100% correct except the last sentence. The lefties truly believe this, and because of their echo chamber believe everyone believes this. The pols, and their handlers, are the one who wink at the base and do the chameleon act to the center.

Edutcher my step-grandfather was a navigator who flew the Regensburg missions. Half the crew was killed. It isn't funny to use that as an example even if to ridicule the ever so deserving of ridicule Garage.

Tammy is walking right into the buzzsaw that is known as Tommy Thompson. It's going to be a sweet result on November 6th. I suggest it will be one of the first things called on the basis of exit polling that evening. Someone can be editing the graphics right now, putting the green check mark next to "Thomspon (R)".

Funny cubanbob should bring that up. My grandfather, tech sgt William Arnold Van Steenwyk, was also on the Regensburg mission, with the 94th bomb group. His normal aircraft, the Dear Mom, didn't have enough oxygen that morning, so he went to the next plane that had a bomb door camera. He watched his crew get shot out of the sky next to him that day. For the rest of his life he would say "this is the x anniversary of the worst day of my life. He had nightmares his whole life... "I was on the flightline again, last night, looking for Lt. Nayovitch and the boys.". The Battle of Regensburg is very personal to the Van Steenwyk family.

From the article:To the rightwing and corporate interests behind the NRSC and the Republican Party, democracy looks like Scott Walker’s landslide election.

I like how this is written with a hint of incredulity. Because a statewide vote is nothing, nothing compared to a hippie drum circle when it comes to real democracy.

One thing I dislike about the Left is that they're gutless about saying they're the Left. Now we're on to "progressive" because "liberal" became a bad word. Why not just own the term? If you embraced OWS and class warfare, just own it. If you supported the recall, own it.

Words do matter and Progressive is actually the honest label, not liberal. The struggle for conservatives was never with liberals or democrats, but with progressives.

For quite a few years now we've been subjected to several false dichotomies. Liberal by definition is the opposite of moderate and where people stand on specific issues can be liberal or moderate. There are democrats that could only be called moderate on some issues and republicans who could only be called liberal on some issues. People's personal politics tend to drive them to identify as republican or democrat for one of two reasons.

One because the party's platforms and general philosophy agrees with their personal positions on specific issues...most of the time. There are more moderate republicans than moderate democrats, and more liberal democrats than liberal republicans. Party identification for those not actually in politics is in line with what you more often than not feel about specific issues. Once you identify with a party, as far as the planks of the party platform you don't necessarily agree with, well, you hold your nose.

The second and more prosaic reason people identify as democrat or republican is because the party offers them clear personal advantage. The old country club republican for one example from the past or the new entitlement class democrat of the present for another.

The same split goes for conservative and progressive to a lesser extent. It's not about party affiliation, though the differences are more stark and the resultant aggregation to one or the other party by default is more pronounced than is is with liberal or moderates.

The critical difference between being conservative or progressive is that they are in direct opposition on the social engineering in general and the sanctity of the current social contract in particular - whether, in what manner, and in what direction you want the societal network to evolve.

One side, conservatives, are interested in maintaining the the status quo where it works, and slow adaptive change issuing from the polity where it doesn't. The other side, progressives, are interested in social engineering whether the status quo works or not through coercive change issuing from a political class.

The key is the independent voter who individually holds a similar mix of moderate or liberal opinions on specific issues as do party members but can't hold their noses on the party stances they don't agree with.

Since most of the country is conservative, and being conservative means not being particularly in tune with coercive politics or politicians, I think it is to our advantage that the sides are becoming more clearly defined and labeled.

One side, conservatives, are interested in maintaining the the status quo where it works, and slow adaptive change issuing from the polity where it doesn't. The other side, progressives, are interested in social engineering whether the status quo works or not through coercive change issuing from a political class.

Cubanbob, Jason...wow what a coincidence. My Dad was a B17 navigator. He didn't fly on the Regensberg missions. His plane was shot up so bad it was grounded so he volunteered for another plane to complete a crew. He went as a tail gunner. First position to die. Strangely enough, the plane was shot down and he was the only survivor. Spent 18 months in a Luftstalag and died young because ot it.